Light plaster for skin cancer treatment to ship in November

Sara Ver-Bruggen - 19 Oct 2009

Next month Scotland-based Ambicare Health will start to ship volumes of a wearable disposable LED plaster for treating skin cancer in conjunction with photodynamic drugs.

The company has just announced CE Mark approval ahead of shipping to distributors in Europe. Dermatologists will be able to recommend the treatment from early 2010 the company's MD, Dr Ian Muirhead, anticipates.

Ambicare is also in the process of preparing its technology for US and Australian regulatory approval.

Muirhead says the decision to change the name of his company, which was originally called Lumicure, was reached in preparation for a US launch in order to differentiate the business from a healthcare company in the states called LumaCare, which supplies light equipment for medical and cosmetic skin conditions.

Ambicare is also in talks with partners to launch its technology as a light-based cosmetic skin treatment. Approvals should be easier to achieve as no photodynamic creams are used for conditions such as acne.

In Europe photodynamic therapy (PDT) - the use of special photosensitive cream and light to treat skin cancer lesions - is regularly the first line of treatment recommended for non melanoma skin cancer.

Current PDT treatments require day patient appointments at a hospital where a large static light source is used in treatment. This approach can be expensive for hospitals, as it can tie up a hospital day bed, and can also be inconvenient for patients.

PDT is less invasive than surgery which is one alternative form of treatment and less likely to leave scarring.

When Ambicare Health first announced its technology the company was working with OLEDs to develop them as the light source for the plaster. But like Polymertronics, another UK company developing a PDT light plaster, Ambicare has found that LEDs offer a more cost-effective and available light source. Both companies say they are still looking at OLED materials for future light plaster products.

Muirhead declined to provide any indication of unit volumes being shipped from November. He says feedback from dermatologists has been positive as many are looking forward to this progress in PDT treatment.